Rates of oral cancers, such as cancers of the mouth, tongue and lip, have increased by around a quarter in the past decade among people in their 40s, according to figures from Cancer Research UK.
Oral cancer is largely a preventable disease with tobacco and alcohol use being the main risk factors. Cancers caused by smoking often take up to 30 years to develop, so tobacco is less likely to be the main reason behind the increase in oral cancer in people in their 40s compared with older people. Since smoking rates have gone down and alcohol consumption has gone up, experts believe the increase in oral cancer rates could mainly be down to drinking.
